The conventional method of furnace brazing copper tubes directly to metal manifolds in a vacuum braze furnace has long presented problems with respect to alloying and erosion. Since vacuum braze furnaces do not allow for any significant observation of the braze joint during heating and additionally must cool a significant mass of tooling and equipment from the brazing temperature, the braze cycle cannot be terminated the moment the braze melts and fills the joint. Therefore to account for variables such as the measurement uncertainty of the thermocouples used measure the temperature of the part, and the variability of the amount of time and superheat required to fill the braze joints, the degree of alloying will always be expected to be higher than that involved in focused heating source methods.
These conditions very often lead to the interaction of copper alloy tubes with braze filler resulting in changes the microstructure of the copper, which generally reduces its strength, ductility and thermal conductivity.
The equation describing the rate at which a brazing filler metal can dissolve and remove a base metal is governed by the well-known ahrrenius-type equation:Rate of Dissolution=K1·exp [−Q/k2T]
The equation above identifies the three variables influencing base metal dissolution and related phenomenon (alloying and erosion). Activation energy (represented by Q) is a function of the material combination present (brazing filler metal and base metal combination). K1 and k2 are constants determined by the materials present.
The second variable influencing the rate of dissolution of the copper alloy tubing by the brazing filler metal is temperature or superheat (represented by T). Superheat is controlled by the joining process heat source. As shown by the equation, the rate of base metal dissolution by a braze filler increase exponentially with the superheat. Therefore an ideal brazing process for joining copper tubes to metal manifolds is one which minimizes the superheat required to draw the brazing filler metal into the braze joint by capillary action.
In the case of induction or radiant heating methods, the braze filler can be observed directly as it melts and flows into the joint. This allows the braze cycle (and continued heating with attendant increases in superheat) to be terminated the moment a sound braze joint has been achieved. By contrast, furnace brazing as stated above, requires the tubes to be directly brazed to the manifolds in a vacuum braze furnace which does not allow for visual monitoring of the braze joint during heating, the braze cycle (and thus continued heating) cannot therefore be terminated the moment the braze metals and fills the joint. These conditions therefore usually result in a greater amount of superheat than that involved in focused heating source methods.
A third variable that is implied but not mentioned by the equation is time. For a given rate of dissolution, the extent of dissolution is impacted by the product of the rate and the time. Therefore an ideal brazing process for the application under consideration by the present invention is one which minimizes the time the braze filler is molten. Focused heating sources satisfy this rapid quenching of the braze joint from the brazing temperature simply by shutting off the heat source. The induction braze cycle typically lasts less than about two minutes. In contrast, the alternate furnace braze cycle lasts approximately 250 minutes. This over two orders of magnitude difference in the overall braze cycle reduces the amount of time the copper alloy tubes are exposed to molten braze filler and dramatically reduces the amount of superheat exposure.